Keeping Up With The Joneses
Too many times people place materialistic things (i.e. clothes, cars, jewelry, etc.) before things that truly matter (i.e. family, love, etc.). In D.H. Lawrence’s story The Rocking-Horse Winner, the characters mistakenly think that the pursuit of luck leads to the pursuit of happiness, an unwise thing that lead to destruction. Lawrence uses a rare approach to symbolize the family’s greed and obsession which leads to the ironic path of death. “Everybody else said of her: ‘She is such a good mother. She adores her children.’ Only she herself, and her children themselves, knew it was not so. They read it in each other’s eyes.” (Lawrence 169) The neighbors think that the mother, Hester is the most loving and caring mother. Contrary to what appears to the neighbors, materialism is where her heart truly lies. Despite the happy appearance that is portrayed to the neighbors throughout the story, Hester is not the most loving and caring mother, and this remains unspoken. “Although they lived in style, they felt always…show more content… “‘Well I got there! ‘he announced fiercely, his blue eyes still flaring.’ ‘… and his eyes were blue fire…’” (172) Once he realizes that riding the horse allows him to gain insight of the winners of the race, Paul becomes obsessed and gains a gambling habit. Paul’s obsession with the desire to make more money for the sake of his mother’s love leads to his tragic death. Throughout the story Paul’s eyes and his demeanor are shown to symbolize the stress he has caused himself due to his desire to win the races, which lead to more money. “The Derby was drawing near, and the boy grew more and more tense. He hardly heard what was spoken to him, he was very frail, and his eyes were really uncanny.” (180) Paul, at a young age is disturbed by a problem that someone his age should not be worried